This play was absolutely breath-taking; from the
ambiance of the theatre to the heart-felt words of the actors, everything about
this play tugged on one heart string or another. The Hatiloo Theatre is located
near downtown Memphis, in a rather decrepit part of town. It is squished
between a hair salon and a fast food restraunt but once I entered the building
I was struck by the beautiful interior and the less than eclectic group that
made up the sold-out crowd. As soon as I stepped inside it was clear that I was
one of four white people in a group of about sixty black theatre patrons.
However I didn’t feel out of place, in fact, I felt like I received numerous
respectful glances and appreciative stares from the predominantly black crowd.
For those of you who have not seen The Blind
Side or know the history of Memphis; Hurt Village was a rundown, crime-ridden
neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee that was torn down in the 1950’s after they
had received the Hope VI grant. Hurt Village was written by Katori Hall,
a Memphis born playwright who graduated from Columbia University in New York
City. She has written many plays on and off Broadway but in my biased opinion, Hurt Village is her most impressive and
influential. The play obviously takes place in Hurt Village during the end of
the Bush administration, when the housing project is about to be torn down. The
star of the show is a brilliant black thirteen year old girl who hopes to one
day be a rapper; Cookie, and her loud and boisterous family. This controversial
play tackled many modern day issues including the war in Iraq, the rezoning of
housing projects in Memphis, racism, drug addiction, rape, the job market, and
most importantly, one determined girl’s dream to change her reality. The play
focuses around the metaphor of Cookie’s science project where she tests whether
or not one of nine fleas that have been kept in a jar for a week will leave
once the top is removed. In this metaphor, the nine fleas are Cookie and the
other eight characters, and the jar is Hurt Village. Ultimately I felt like
this play was about Cookie being able to rise above the dismal situation she
was born into; a drug addicted mother, an absent father, and a neighborhood
full of crime and violence.
This play is controversial, topical, relevant,
and watching it made me uncomfortable. By that, I mean it forced me to confront
issues that I had never really experienced on a first-hand basis. There were
two parts of this play that continued to affect me even after I had left the
theatre. The first was a line in the play itself; “It ain’t no good to want too
much. End up disappointed” (advice given to Cookie) this quote in particular
really resonated with me because it perfectly encapsulates learned helplessness
and how/why people get stuck in the situations they are born in to. If people
don’t want, dream, or aspire to be better or do better then they never will.
I’ve heard this quote before when I was told to set my expectations low so I
wouldn’t be disappointed with the outcome, but (to use an even more popular
quote) if we don’t shoot for the moon we will never land amongst the stars.
I strongly suggest you go see this play or any
other play written by Katori Hall to better understand the racial, economical,
and political issues that we face in Memphis.
Regan, I'm glad you went to go see this play so you could write this post. What you have described, this circle of poverty, and the inertia/gravity the housing projects create is exactly what I have been addressing in my past couple years at Rhodes. You mentioned Hurt Village was torn down for a HOPE VI renewal project and you're absolutely right. What most people do not know is that you pass what used to be Hurt Village every single time you go downtown. The Uptown neighborhood, centered at the corner of Danny Thomas and North Parkway is the old Hurt Village site. The Uptown redevelopment area is now a huge mixed income community that is the focal point for the entire area's redevelopment.
ReplyDeleteThe idea for a HOPE VI project is to create a mixed income community where impoverished public housing residents will create vertical social networks to help raise themselves out of poverty - breaking that cycle and gravity you and the playwright mentioned. To some degree, the Uptown Project has been successful in creating these social networks and a lot of momentum is being generated for the redevelopment of Uptown and "the Pinch" (which is mentioned in our reading "Plans Dat Comed From God" as the slums where Irish immigrants used to live." However, many problems have arisen as the project has matured, like job creation and gentrification. It will be interesting to see how the project progresses, especially given Bass Pros commitment to move into the vacant pyramid.